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Exploring Social Psychology 8th Edition by Myers

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Module 06
The Fundamental Attribution Error
1. Inferring that Cinderella is truly meek as she cowers in her oppressive home is an example of how we often
A. focus on internal traits.
B. ignore temporary moods.
C. forget about situational influences.
D. notice public and private behavior.

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2. Which of the following best illustrates the fundamental attribution error?


A. Gertrude is nervous about attending his high school reunion because he is conscious that he is overweight. He feels that others will make fun of
him.
B. Sarah is set to take her driving test. Although she has practiced innumerable times, she still feels agitated and unprepared at the prospect of the
test.
C. Although her fellow students being freshers are as nervous as Maria, she assumes that they are happy and relaxed because they are talking and
laughing with each other.
D. Bernard is aware of the fact that all his colleagues consume alcohol, whereas he is a teetotaler. He feels apprehensive about joining them for an
after office party.

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3. In their Fidel Castro study, Jones and Harris (1967) reported that
A. participants were able to differentiate opinions that were chosen from those that were assigned.
B. even when they knew that a position was assigned, participants still reported that the feelings articulated in the essays reflected an author's true
opinions.
C. participants believed that all authors were against Castro's policies regardless of what they wrote.
D. participants believed that all authors were for Castro's policies regardless of what they wrote.

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4. Researchers randomly assigned participants to play the part of either a quiz game contestant or a host, while other participants merely observed the

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game. Results indicated that
A. both contestants and observers thought the hosts were more knowledgeable than the contestants.
B. both contestants and observers thought the contestants were more knowledgeable than the hosts.
C. observers thought the hosts were more knowledgeable, but contestants attributed the outcomes to the situation.
D. hosts thought themselves more knowledgeable, but contestants attributed the outcomes to the situation.

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5. We tend to underestimate the situational determinants of others' behavior but not our own because we observe others from a different perspective
than we observe ourselves. This is known as the
A. actor–observer difference.
B. camera perspective bias.
C. changing perspectives trend.
D. self-awareness phenomenon.

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6. What commands our attention as we shop for groceries each week is the environment around us, such as the number of people in front of us at the
checkout counter. Yet, when we watch another person's behavior at the grocery store, he or she, rather than the environment, occupies the center of
our attention. As a result, we tend to engage in the attribution error. That is, we are irritable because the lines are long, but the other person is
cantankerous because he or she is an unhappy person. Which of the following best explains this use of the fundamental attribution error?
A. the actor–observer difference
B. the camera perspective bias
C. the changing perspectives trend
D. the self-awareness phenomenon

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7. According to Malle's (2006) analysis of research on the actor–observer difference, we are more likely to attribute our behavior to the situation
when
A. we act badly.
B. we fail.
C. we act intentionally.
D. we act admirably.

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8. In a study conducted by Lassiter and his colleagues (2002), participants observed a suspect confessing during a police interview. The results
indicated that participants were more likely to perceive the confession as genuine when they viewed the confession
A. live.
B. through a two-way mirror.
C. through a camera focused on the suspect.
D. through a camera focused on the detective.

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9. In a study conducted by Lassiter and his colleagues (2002), participants observed a suspect confessing during a police interview. The results
indicated that participants were more likely to perceive the confession was coerced when they viewed the confession
A. live.
B. through a two-way mirror.
C. through a camera focused on the suspect.
D. through a camera focused on the detective.

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10. According to Daniel Lassiter's research (2002) on the camera perspective bias, New Zealand and some parts of Canada and the United States now
require that police interrogations be filmed with
A. the suspect as the primary focus.
B. equal focus on the officer and the suspect.
C. the officer as the main focus.
D. focus on the observer inside the interrogation room.

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11. According to the text, observers tend to attribute a person's behavior to _____ the more the time passes.
A. the situation

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B. his or her personal characteristics
C. both the situation and his or her personal characteristics
D. neither the situation nor his or her personal characteristics

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12. According to a study by Burger and Pavelich (1994), voters were more likely to attribute the outcome of an election to _____ the day after a
presidential election, and to a _____ a year after the election.
A. poor weather on Election Day; candidate's oral presentation skills
B. a candidate's oral presentation skills; poor weather on Election Day
C. a candidate's personal traits and positions; nation's economy
D. a nation's economy; candidate's personal traits and positions

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13. Burger and Pavelich (1994) found that voters were more likely to attribute the outcome of an election to a candidate's personal traits and positions
the day after a presidential election, and to a nation's economy a year after the election. This represents which of the following explanations for the
fundamental attribution error?
A. actor–observer difference
B. camera perspective bias
C. changing perspectives trend
D. self-awareness phenomenon

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14. Based on the experiments conducted by Jerry Burger and Julie Pavelich (1994) and Pronin and Ross (2006), which of the following is the most
likely reason for the attribution error?
A. People are biased toward others of their own community.
B. People's cultures are unlikely to affect their perspective.
C. People are partial to individuals of the opposite gender.
D. People find causes where they look for them.

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15. People in Western cultures are more inclined to assume that others' behaviors
A. reflect inner traits.
B. are caused by the situation.
C. do not reflect inner traits.
D. do not cause events.

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16. In _____ cultures, people are less likely to perceive others in terms of personal dispositions.
A. individualistic
B. collectivistic
C. religious
D. secular

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17. Those who make regarding poverty and unemployment tend to adopt political positions that
A. offer more direct support to the poor.
B. are unsympathetic to the poor.
C. tend to blame the poor for their problems.
D. are more neutral regarding poverty and unemployment.

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18. Those who make regarding poverty and unemployment tend to adopt political positions that
A. offer more direct support to the poor.
B. are unsympathetic to the poor.
C. tend to blame the poor for their problems.
D. are more neutral regarding poverty and unemployment.

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19. Both you and your friend are late for a meeting. How would the attribution theory predict both your behavior and your friend's behavior?
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20. Describe an example of how the actor–observer difference could play a role in racist beliefs.

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21. Provide examples to demonstrate the roles of perspective and situational awareness in the occurrence of the fundamental attribution error.

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22. Provide an example of the fundamental attribution error, and be sure to explain why the error is considered "fundamental."

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Category # of Questions
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Title: How to write the history of a parish

Author: J. Charles Cox

Release date: July 26, 2022 [eBook #68613]

Language: English

Original publication: United Kingdom: Bemrose & Sons, 1879

Credits: David E. Brown and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team


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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO


WRITE THE HISTORY OF A PARISH ***
HOW TO WRITE
THE HISTORY OF A PARISH.
HOW TO WRITE

T H P .
BY
J. CHARLES COX,
A “N C D ,” .

“Every man’s concern with the place where he lives, has something
more in it than the mere amount of rates and taxes that he
has to pay.”—Toulmin Smith.

LONDON:
BEMROSE & SONS, 10, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS;
AND DERBY.
1879.
ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL.
TO THE

REV. THOMAS PRESTON NOWELL BAXTER,


M.A.,
(LATE FELLOW OF ST. CATHARINE’S COLL., CAMBRIDGE.)

RECTOR OF HAWERBY, AND RURAL DEAN,

WHO FIRST SUGGESTED

THE WRITING OF THIS LITTLE HAND-BOOK,

THESE PAGES

ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.


PREFACE.
S of the Clergy of the Diocese of Lincoln are responsible
for the issue of this booklet. A much-needed county history of
Lincolnshire is now being projected, upon the basis of
separate parochial histories. A circular put forth in one of the
rural deaneries was good enough to refer in laudatory terms to
the introduction to the first volume of my Notes on the
Churches of Derbyshire. This led to my being asked to re-
publish that introduction; but it applied so peculiarly to
Derbyshire that I felt it would be of small avail to those
outside the county. Hence I decided to put together some hints
that might prove a help to those who may be desirous of
undertaking parochial history in any part of the kingdom,
whether manorial, ecclesiastical, or both. In the first part of
these pages I am indebted to Thomas’s “Handbook to the
Public Records,” and more especially to Sims’s invaluable
“Manual for the Topographer and Genealogist;” but I have not
referred to any class of documents with which I am not in
some measure personally conversant.
Those who have been engaged in any literary work are well
aware how large a portion of time is often spent in merely
learning the titles and somewhat of the contents of those
books that treat of the different branches of the subject
selected. Various books connected with parochial history,
especially those that have been proved by experience to be the
best hand-books, are therefore mentioned in these pages to
facilitate reference. Space only has prevented me from
considerably adding both to their number and description, but
any further knowledge that I may have gleaned on
topographical literature is heartily at the disposal of any
worker who may privately apply to me.
I shall be grateful for any correction of errors, or for any
suggestion as to deficiencies.
ABBREVIATIONS.
P.R.O.—For the Public Record Office. Almost the whole of
our national records, which were until recently in upwards of
half-a-dozen different buildings, are now under one roof in
Fetter Lane, Fleet Street. All documents mentioned in the
following pages must be understood to be at the Public
Record Office, unless it is otherwise stated. Several of the
earlier folio publications of the Record Commissioners, to
which reference is herein made, are out of print, but they are
to be found in most of our public libraries.
B. M.—For the Library of the British Museum.
B.—For the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
C.—For the University Library, Cambridge.
HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY
OF A PARISH.

Etymology.
N only should the etymology of the name of the parish be carefully
considered, and its various forms of spelling be collected, from
Domesday Book downwards, but a list should be made of the whole of
the names of the physical features, such as hills, streams, and lanes, and
especially of the field-names. Field-names—which will often establish
the sites of disused chapels or manor-houses, of Celtic burials or Roman
roads, as well as help to decide the nationality of the colonists that
predominated in the district—can be sometimes gleaned from old private
estate maps, or other exceptional sources, but the “Award” maps of
Inclosure Commissioners from 1710 downwards, or the Tithe
Commutation maps of 1836, are the chief and most reliable sources.
These maps should be in most parish chests, but they have often illegally
strayed into the private hands of solicitors, churchwardens, etc. When
lost or difficult of access, the original maps can usually be seen at the
offices of the Copyhold Inclosure and Tithe Commission, 3, St. James’s
Square, on payment of 2s. 6d.; but under certain Acts the originals will
be found, or rather ought to be found and to be accessible, at the Clerk of
the Peace’s office for the county.
The best hand-books on local etymology are—Taylor’s “Words and
Places,” and Edmund’s “Names of Places.” Leo on “The Local
Nomenclature of the Anglo-Saxons,” Charnock’s “Local Etymology and
Derivative Dictionary,” and Ferguson’s “River Names,” and “Teutonic
Name System” may also be consulted with advantage.
“Prehistoric” Remains.
If there are any so-called “Druidical” (almost invariably a complete
misnomer) or other “prehistoric” remains of that class, not a word should
be written respecting them until Fergusson’s “Rude Stone Monuments”
has been thoroughly digested. Though published in 1872, not one of the
old-fashioned antiquaries has made any serious attempt to refute its
conclusions.
The best work on tumuli, or barrows, is Canon Greenwell’s “British
Barrows.” See also Bateman’s “Ten Years’ Diggings in Celtic and Saxon
Grave Hills.” The two last essays of Sir John Lubbock’s “Scientific
Lectures” give a popular account of that branch of prehistoric
archæology which deals with the palæolithic and neolithic periods, i.e.,
with the races who respectively used the chipped and ground weapons of
stone.
History of the Manor.
T A -S C , and other Old English chronicles,
should be consulted for possible early mention of the parish. Most of
these have been cheaply printed in an English dress in Bohn’s
Antiquarian Series. In Kemble’s “Saxons in England” will be found a
good list of the old tribal divisions into “marks.” Thorpe’s
Diplomatarium Anglicum Ævi Saxonici is an admirable collection of
early charters (with translations); some of the wills contain many place-
names; the volume is indifferently indexed.
T D B , compiled in 1085-6, is preserved at the Chapter
House, Westminster. It gives particulars of all the different manors
throughout England, excepting those of Northumberland, Cumberland,
Westmoreland, and Durham. It was printed in two large volumes in
1783, and a third volume of indexes and introductory matter added in
1811. A most valuable “General Introduction” was published in 1833, by
Sir Henry Ellis. The Ordnance Survey have recently brought out a fac-
simile edition of the Domesday Book, produced by Photo-zincography,
which can be obtained in separate counties. The extended text and
translation of most counties can also be procured.
The Book of Exeter and the Book of Ely are of the same date, and no
doubt copied from the same returns as Domesday Book itself, but they
contain many more details. The former, preserved at Exeter Cathedral,
comprises the counties of Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall;
the latter, now in the British Museum, relates to Cambridge, Hertford,
Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Huntingdon. The Book of Winchester
(Society of Antiquaries) relates to that borough; it was made in 1148.
The Boldon Book is a survey of the county palatinate of Durham, taken
in 1183; there are three copies, two at Durham, and one at the Bodleian.
These four minor Surveys were published by the Record Commissioners
in one volume in 1816.
K ’ F . When England was subdivided by the Conqueror among
his vassals, the feudal custom of supplying the crown with a certain
number of knights was imposed upon them. The number of knights that
had to be furnished was specified in the infeoffment. These knights, in
their turn, held lands from the immediate tenants of the crown, which
were owned by homage, fealty, and a great variety of tenures, as well as
by direct payments in money. Some tenures were merely nominal, such
as a grain of cummin, or a red rose; others were of more or less value,
such as a pair of white gloves, a tun of wine, a gold spur, or a silver
salver; and others by such service as holding the lord’s stirrup, keeping a
pack of hounds, etc., etc. See Blount’s “Ancient Tenures.” The lands of
these knights were termed “Fees,” and composed the barony of a crown
vassal. A knight’s fee was supposed to be so much land as would suffice
to maintain him, and to enable him to present himself and his retainers
ready equipped for the field in times of emergency. Hence a “Knight’s
Fee,” as applied to land, represents no definite quantity, but a variable
amount, generally between one and five hundred acres of cultivable land.
The term is also sometimes used for the rent paid to the lord for the fee.
It is easy, then, to see that it became essential to the Crown, both for
monetary and judicial purposes, as well national as local, to know from
time to time the exact position of their vassals and sub-vassals. Hence,
Inquisitions were held up and down the country before local sworn
juries, and the barons made returns of that which they held, and which
was held under them. These returns are among the earliest of our
national records; and though brief, are invaluable, from their absolute
authenticity, to the genealogist and local historian. The chief documents
of this class are the Black Book of the Exchequer, temp. Henry II., the
original of which is in the P. R. O., but three manuscript copies are in the
B. M., C., and B. respectively, and it was published (but imperfectly, and
not from the original) by Hearn, in two vols., 8vo., last century; the
Scutage and the Marshall Rolls, temp., Edw. I. & II., P. R. O.; various
lists of Tenants in Capite in our different public libraries; and, most
important, the Testa de Neville. The last-mentioned of these documents
consists of two ancient volumes compiled temp. Edw. II., now in the P.
R. O. They consist of Inquisitions, taken temp. Henry III. and Edw. I.,
respecting the Fees held immediately or otherwise of the King,
throughout the whole of England, excepting the counties of Cambridge,
Cheshire, Durham, Lancashire, and Monmouthshire. These records were
officially printed in one vol., folio, in 1807; there are many errors in the
spelling of place-names, but these can for the most part be readily
detected by any one having local knowledge. Another folio volume,
printed in 1802, is the Nonarum Inquisitiones; it is of some value, and
may, perhaps, be fairly included under the head of “Knight’s Fees.” It
consists, in the main, of the finding upon oath by the parishioners, of the
value of the ninth lamb, fleece, and sheep, and in cities and boroughs of
the ninth of goods and chattels, which by an Act 14 Edw. III. were to be
levied as a tax for two years towards the expenditure in the Scotch and
French wars. The rolls abound in the names of jurymen, commissioners,
and landowners. The published volume only contains the returns from
twenty-seven counties, but the Nona Rolls for most of the missing ones,
e.g., Derby, Hertford, Northumberland, and Warwick, have since been
found. MS. indexes of these will be found in the small books lettered
“Exchequer Subsidies” in the search room of the P. R. O.
R . Under the general head of “Rolls,” some of the most important
of our national documents have to be briefly considered.
The Great Rolls of the Exchequer, otherwise called the Pipe Rolls, are all
but perfect from 2 Henry II. to the present time; and there is one roll of
31 Henry I., the oldest national document now extant after the Domesday
Book. They relate to the revenues of the Crown, digested under the heads
of the several counties. They are of much interest and utility in early
pedigrees, and relate to a far wider range of subjects than Crown lands,
as the Crown revenues come from so great a diversity of sources. The
originals are in the P. R. O., but most of the rolls are in duplicate at the B.
M. Several volumes of transcripts are in the B. M. and B. The Rolls for
the 31 Henry I.; 3 John; 2, 3, and 4, Henry II.; and 1 Richard I., have
been published by the Record Commissioners.
The Patent Rolls commence with 3 John, and are fairly perfect up to the
present time. On them are entered all grants of lands, offices, honours,
pensions, and particulars of individual or corporate privileges, etc., etc.
These invaluable Rolls are unfortunately not indexed. A folio calendar of
those from John to 23 Edward IV., was printed in 1802, but it is only a
capriciously made selection. Those from the 3rd to 18th John have since
been printed in full, with an admirable introduction. In the B. M. are
many volumes of selections and extracts for particular periods. Manorial
grants of “free warren” in these rolls will often supply a missing link in
the history of a manor.
The difference between the documents entered on the Close Rolls, and
the Patent Rolls, is that royal letters patent were delivered open, with the
Great Seal appended, and were supposed to be of a public nature and
addressed to all the king’s subjects; whilst the Close Rolls contain entries
of such instruments as were despatched closed or sealed up, and were of
a more private nature. These rolls begin in 1204. From that time to 11
Henry III., they have been printed in full in two folio volumes. There are
various copies and transcripts of particular parts in the B.M., B., and C.,
and in the libraries of Lincoln’s Inn and Inner Temple. The rolls are of
infinite variety and importance. Among the subjects treated of are—
Royal Prerogatives, Homage, Fealty, Knight’s Service, Treasure Trove,
Gold and Silver Mining, Bail and Pardons, Livery of Lands, Assignment
of Dowers, Wardship of Minors, Repairs of Bridges, etc., etc. They
often, therefore, contain unexpected fragments of local history connected
with apparently insignificant parishes, and are even more fruitful than
the better known Patent Rolls.
The Charter Rolls contain a good deal of duplicate matter to that on the
Patent Rolls. They chiefly consist of grants of privileges to religious
houses, cities, and towns, and grants of markets, fairs, and free warren to
individuals. Charters, like Letters Patent, passed under the Great Seal;
but a charter differed from a patent inasmuch as the former was
witnessed by the council or by such persons as were present at its
execution, and the latter was solely executed by the king. The Charter
Rolls extend from 1199 to 1483. A complete calendar of these rolls, well
indexed, was published in 1803, and the rolls themselves of the reign of
John, were also published by the Record Commissioners in 1837.
The Fine Rolls contain accounts of fines paid to the Crown for licenses
to alienate lands, for freedom from knight service, or being knighted, for
renewals of various charters, etc., etc. They begin in the time of Richard
I. The Fine Rolls of John, and extracts from those of Henry III., have
been published by the Commissioners in three 8vo. volumes. They are to
be distinguished from the important Pedes Finium, subsequently
explained.
The Originalia are described in the Public Records Report as “the
Estreats transmitted from the Court of Chancery into this (Exchequer)
office, of all grants of the Crown inrolled on the Patent and other Rolls,
whereon any rent is reserved, any salary payable, or any service
performed.” These rolls commence early in the reign of Henry III. An
abstract, in two folio volumes, of the Originalia from 20 Henry III. to the
end of Edward III., was published by the Commissioners in 1805.
Similar abstracts from 1 Richard II., to end of James II., were prepared
for printing, but never published; the MS. of this work is in the B. M. An
index to the Originalia was published in 1793, by Mr. Edward Jones, in
two folio volumes. Those who have had occasion to use Mr. Jones’s
index know that the judgment “very useful, but very imperfect,” is true
in each particular.
The Hundred Rolls will often prove to be of the greatest interest for one
period of manorial history. During the turbulent reign of Henry III., the
Crown revenues had been much diminished by the Tenants in Capite
alienating lands without license, and by powerful ecclesiastics and
laymen usurping the rights of holding courts, and committing other
encroachments. The people, too, had been greatly oppressed by exactions
and oppressions at the hands of sheriffs and other officers, and by false
claims to free warren and illegal tolls. One of the first acts of Edward I.,
on his return from the Holy Land, at his father’s death, was to remedy
these abuses. The circuit of the itinerant justices was only usually made
once in seven years, therefore the king appointed Special Commissioners
for inquiring into these grievances throughout the realm. These rolls are
the result of the inquisitions taken in pursuance of this commission. They
afford evidence, upon the oath of a jury of each hundred and town of—
all demesne lands and manors then or formerly in the hands of the
Crown—all tenants in capite and tenants in ancient demesne—
alienations to the Church—rights of free warren, fisheries, etc.—
oppressions of nobility and clergy—exactions of excessive toll—
unlawful trading—encroachments on highways, etc., etc. The whole of
these rolls were published by the Record Commissioners in 1812-18, in
two large folio volumes, but are not now to be purchased. “The
genealogist may estimate the assistance these volumes are capable of
affording, when it is mentioned that the Indices of Names contain
references to about 70,000 persons.” The mis-spelling of place-names is
sometimes a little misleading, but ordinary care will rectify this, as the
returns are arranged in counties. The rolls, as printed, may be fairly
relied on for historical purposes, without the trouble of collating the
originals.
P . The pleadings of our several courts, with the judgments
thereon, have been for many centuries entered on rolls. The greater part
of these are termed Placita, or pleading Rolls. Their important bearing on
manorial history is obvious. There is scarcely a manor in the kingdom
that had not occasion, on an average of at least once a century, to put in
an appearance in one or other of the courts on some matter involving
litigation.
Under our Norman kings, all pleadings were originally heard Aula sive
Curia Regis, in the hall or court of the king’s palace. In aid of the King’s
Court, itinerant justices were first appointed temp. Henry I., and were
finally established 22 Henry II. Towards the end of the reign of Richard
I., the Curia Regis was subdivided into courts of Exchequer and
Chancery, whilst the king’s court still retained pleas immediately
touching the Crown, and also common pleas, both civil and criminal.
The Magna Charta, 17 John, separated the Common Pleas from the royal
court, after which the Curia Regis continued to be the superior court of
law for criminal matters, and early in the reign of Edward I. lost its more
ancient title and became known as the Court of King’s Bench.
The Rotuli Curia Regis have been printed in full, from 6 Richard I. to 1
John, by the Record Commissioners, in two 8vo. volumes. The same
rolls, in addition to those of the King’s Bench, down to the end of the
reign of Edward II., were, in 1811, elaborately calendared and indexed
by the Commissioners in a valuable folio volume, under the title—
Placitorum in Domo Capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservatorum
Abbreviatio, but the rolls are now in the P. R. O. The abstract has been
made after a fickle fashion, some pleadings are given in full, whilst many
others of more importance are condensed into a couple of lines; and there
is nothing in the volume to tell the student whether they are abbreviated
or not.
The earliest provincial courts were those of the Itinerant Justices, or
Justices in Eyre (from the Norman-French word erre, a journey); they
held criminal and common pleas, and also pleas of the forest. These
justices afterwards gave way to Circuit Judges, and the Justices in Eyre
then became only another name for the Justices of the Forest. If there is
or has been any royal Forest or Chace within the parish under
consideration, special search should be made for its records. Most of the
early proceedings relative to forests are entered on the Patent Rolls; a
considerable number of the ancient perambulations and inquisitions have
been printed in various reports made at different dates. Copies of these
reports, bound in two large volumes, can be consulted at the P. R. O.
Extracts from the rolls, relative to the forests, for special periods may be
found both at the P. R. O. and the B. M. The forest perambulations for
the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. have been completely indexed.
Those rolls that may properly be termed Records of Assize commence 6
Richard I., and end with the reign of Edward IV. In the B. M. are many
MS. volumes of Placita Itinerum pertaining to different reigns and
different counties.
In 1818 the Record Commissioners published an important folio volume,
entitled Placita de Quo Warranto temporibus Edw. I., II., III., which
forms an interesting sequel to the Hundred Rolls. The Hundred Rolls, as
already mentioned, gave a great mass of sworn information as to abuses.
Those persons thus charged were summoned to answer “Quo Warranto”
such and such things were done or left undone? or by what right such
and such manors, etc., were held? This volume contains a full transcript
of the roll of the pleadings in answer to these summonses, and the
judgments thereon. Its utility in manorial history cannot be exaggerated,
as the descent of the manor is often traced back in these pleadings to the
time of John or even earlier. The rolls are arranged under counties, and
include the whole of England, with the exception of the palatinate of
Durham.
The earliest records of the Court of Chancery are of the 17th year of
Richard II., the previous documents having been destroyed in the Wat
Tyler rebellion. There are no petitions extant to the Chancellor of the
reign of Henry IV., and but few of Henry V., but from the beginning of
the reign of Henry VI. they seem to have been kept with much regularity.
Calendars of the Chancery proceedings of the reign of Elizabeth were
published in three volumes folio, 1827-32. In the introduction to this
work are many examples of the earlier proceedings of that court from
Richard II. downwards. It is hardly necessary to add that the bills of
complaint, and their answers, filed in this court, often contain abundant
information as to manorial descent. Numerous MS. volumes of indexes
to Chancery proceedings are at the service of the searcher in the P. R. O.
The volumes known as the Year Books contain reports in Norman-French
of cases argued and decided in the Courts of Common Law. They form
the basis of the “lex non scripta” of English jurisprudence, and are
worthy of attention on account of the historical information and the
notices of public and private persons which they contain. The frequent
disputes about heirship cause them often to be of value in manorial
history. These Reports begin in 1220, and an account of the different
books, their dates, etc., may be found in Worrall’s “Bibliotheca Legum
Angliæ,” 1788. Serjeant Maynard published an edition of early Year
Books, in eleven volumes, in 1679. Several of those of the reign of
Edward I. have been edited by the Record Commissioners. Lincoln’s Inn
Library, and the University Library, Cambridge, have a great number of
MS. Year Books. A work of much research, by Mr. Bigelow, has just
been published, entitled “Placita Anglo-Normannica,” it is a history of
the litigation and legal procedure of the temporal courts during the
period from the Norman Conquest to the middle of the reign of Richard
I. If there has been any early dispute about the manor or manorial rights,
this volume should certainly be consulted.
I . Inquisitiones post mortem, are not unfrequently termed
“Escheats,” from the writs being directed to the county official called the
Escheator; but the term is incorrect, and should never be used, for there
is a class of documents correctly called Escheat Rolls, which differ
altogether from these inquisitions, and refer to the escheator’s accounts
of lands and property escheated to the crown from various causes, and
the profits and value of the same at different periods. The Inquisitio post
mortem, on the contrary, was an inquiry held on oath by a jury of the
district, summoned by virtue of a writ directed to the county Escheator,
on the death of every tenant in capite. The jury had to inquire (1) of what
lands the person died seized, (2) by what rents or services the same were
held, and (3) who was his next heir and of what age; they had also to
ascertain whether the tenant was attainted of treason, or an alien, in
which case the lands reverted to the crown. The return of the jury,
together with the writ authorising the inquiry, were returned to the King’s
Chancery, whence a transcript was sent to the Exchequer, so that the
proper officers might be able to levy the duties and services thereupon
due; for on the death of each tenant in capite, a tax termed a “relief” was
due to the crown, and the heir could not take possession until the relief
was paid and homage done. Moreover, if the heir was a minor, the crown
administered the estates until he could make proof of his legal age and
perform homage. The Exchequer transcripts of these Inquisitions,
together in most cases with the writ, are still extant from the time of
Henry III. down to the end of the reign of Charles I., that is, until the
feudal land system was finally overthrown. Calendars, or short abstracts
of these Inquisitions, carefully indexed, have been printed in four folio
volumes by the Record Commissioners, 1806-1828, up to the end of the
reign of Richard III. These calendars, which are invaluable for reference,
must be used with caution, and should never be quoted as proving the
death of any person by a particular date, for unfortunately not a few
inquisitions that are not post mortem, but ad quod damnum, are included
amongst them. There are also many errors in nomenclature, and in
assigning manors to special counties; it is therefore wisest to make the
rule of never quoting these inquisitions, unless the original has been
seen, or a full transcript obtained. The inquisitions subsequent to the time
of Richard III. have not been calendared. Private enterprise has more
than once announced that such a work would be taken in hand, and
subscribers names obtained, but up to the present time (1879) there
seems no immediate prospect of publication.
The Record Commissioners have also published a Calendar to the
Inquisitions of this class, pertaining to the Duchy of Lancaster, from the
time of Edward I. to Charles I.
Extracts and abstracts from these Inquisitions, covering particular
periods, or for particular counties, are numerous in our public libraries;
for lists of such MSS., see Sims’ Manual, pp. 125-8.
Another form of inquisition was the Inquisitio ad quod damnum, which
was a judicial inquiry, held by virtue of a writ directed to the Escheator
of the county, when any license of alienation of lands, or grant of a
market, fair, or other privilege was solicited. A local jury was sworn to
inquire whether if the claim was granted it would interfere with any
vested right, or be to the detriment of the crown or some of its subjects—
hence the name ad quod damnum. These inquisitions, especially with
relation to alienating lands to religious houses, are often very valuable to
the local historian, for the jury in such cases had to state the amount,
value, and nature of the remainder of the lands of the intended donor. A
calendar of these records from 1 Edward II. to 38 Henry VI., was
officially published in 1803, and is bound up with the previously
mentioned calendar of the Charter Rolls. It should be remembered, as
already stated, that many inquisitions ad quod damnum, particularly the
earlier ones, are wrongly catalogued and arranged among the post
mortem inquests.
P F . The Pedes Finium, or “Feet of Fines,” must be clearly
distinguished from the previously mentioned Fine Rolls, which are quite
a different class of record. The Fine here signified is no mulct of money,
but is so called because it is the final agreement between persons
concerning any lands or rents or other matters whereof there is any suit
between them. The fine, or solemn contract recorded before a competent
judge, is described as having five parts—(1) the original writ taken out
against the cognisor, (2) the license of the crown giving the parties
liberty to accord, (3) the concord itself, (4) the note of the fine, which is
an abstract of the original concord, and (5) the foot of the fine, which
always began thus—“Hæc est finalis concordia facta in curia Dom.
Regis apud Westm” etc. This foot of the fine, which was the official
summary of the concord, was cut off in an indented line (hence the word
indenture), so as to tally with the part delivered to the suitor and prove its
authenticity, and retained by the court. There is no class of documents
that has been so continuously preserved in uninterrupted succession as
these Feet of Fines. No manorial history can be considered satisfactory
until these records have been carefully consulted, for they contain the
proceedings which have been adopted to convey estates, as well as to
free them from their entailment to issue, or from the dower of wives. The
earliest of these documents, viz., from 7 Richard I. to 16 John, have been
officially published in two 8vo. volumes, under the title—“Fines, sive
Pedes Finium; sive Finales Concordiæ, in Curia Domini Regis.”
Having thus run through the chief classes of documents bearing, with
more or less directness, on manorial history, it may be added that further
information should be sought in Mr. Thomas’ “Handbook to the Public
Records.” It may also be well to mention, that those who require accurate
transcripts of any of the records in Fetter Lane, need not apply for
officially certified copies; for reliable transcribers can readily be met
with who will do the work for less than half the sum required for
certified copies. If the amateur searcher does not know any transcribers,
the courteous gentlemen in charge of the Search Room will probably
make no difficulty about giving their address.
Those who may be desirous of gaining some knowledge of the character
or handwriting of ancient records, which can only be efficiently learnt by
practice, are recommended to consult Wright’s “Court-Hand Restored.”
It not only gives numerous alphabets and plates, illustrative of the
different styles in vogue at different periods, but has valuable lists of
abbreviations, of ancient place-names, and of debased Latin words that
are only to be found in legal or monastic documents. Each of the earlier
reigns appears to have had a set or uniform character of its own; but in
the reign of Elizabeth and subsequently, this clerical mode seems to have
been to a great extent abandoned, and each scribe to have written after
his own fancy. It is hence very noticeable that, as was remarked by a late
keeper of the Records, “the English records of the 16th and 17th
centuries are in general more difficult to be read than the Latin records of
preceding ages.”
Civil or Domestic Architecture.
Any British, Roman, Danish, or Anglo-Saxon remains that there may be
in the parish, had, perhaps, better be described before the manorial
history is given. Every earthwork, mound, or ancient roadway should be
carefully noted. It is not possible to refer to any one, or even three or
four, satisfactory books on such subjects. Fosbrooke’s “Encyclopædia of
Antiquities” is out of date, but we know of no better compendious work
of reference. The two volumes of Wright’s “Essays on Archæological
Subjects,” will be found of much general use. Worsae’s “Primeval
Antiquities of Denmark,” translated and applied to the illustration of
similar remains in England, by W. J. Thoms, may be read with
advantage, but with the recollection that the hard and fast “ages” of
Danish antiquaries are, with greater knowledge, becoming exploded.
But all description of civil or domestic architecture, of the Norman or
subsequent periods, should be deferred until after the history of the
manor has been written, because that history will very likely throw light
on any such architectural remains.
If there is a castle, or its relics, within the parish, the probability is
considerable that it has already been well described by a county
historian, or in one or other of the numerous journals of our
Archæological societies. But it is equally probable that its history has not
been thoroughly written, and special search should be made with that
object at the P. R. O., beginning with the indexes to the printed calendars
already enumerated. There is no one efficient volume treating of our
mediæval castles that corresponds with Viollet-le-Duc’s “Military
Architecture of the Middle Ages,” but a translation of this French work
has been published by Parker, and it would be well to read either that or
the original.
Every effort should be made to identify the old manor-house, or its site
(often marked by a grass grown moat), and this should of course be done
with each manor, where, as is usually the case, the parish has contained
more than one. Oral tradition, in this as in other particulars, will often be
found a useful handmaid. Should the exterior of the reputed manor-house
be altogether unpromising, that should not check further investigation.
Several instances are known to us in which modern brick casing or sash
windows are but a screen to some of the oldest domestic architecture
extant, which may be found in the back premises or outbuildings, or
contain fine old chimney-pieces, carved oak panelling, or ceilings of
elaborate pargetting. Nor should attention be only directed to manor-
houses. All old domestic work is worth chronicling, so rapidly is it
disappearing both in town and country; and the annalist of a parish
should not be above transcribing all the initials and dates so frequently
seen on lintel stones. As a rule, every house or cottage, not obviously
modern, that has stone buttresses, a moulded wall-plate or string-course,
or bevelled stone mullions to the windows, is worthy of careful
examination. Many interesting details, such as the site of chantry-houses,
may be thus brought to light, and the history in stone, and the history on
parchment, be found to tally in unexpected ways.
Domestic architecture should always be described by the century, and
not by the “periods” into which ecclesiastical architecture is usually
divided. The only book worth purchasing on the subject, is the somewhat
costly but admirable four volume edition of Parker’s “Mediæval
Domestic Architecture.” For the general “History of Architecture,” both
civil and religious, of all ages and countries, nothing can surpass
Fergusson’s last edition in four volumes, published by Murray in 1874.

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